It was about a week later. The ship's tannoy whistled, waking Amelia and Jane from their sleep.

"All officers on deck, all officers on deck. All hands to observation stations."

"Hmm?" Jane yawned, stretching. "What's that?"

"They're calling us up on deck." Amelia sat up and smiled down at her lover. "Well, me, anyway. You can stay in if you need to."

"No, no. I'm...I'm up." Jane yawned again. Amelia kissed her cheek lightly and began dressing. Jane rolled onto her back to watch her, admiring the felinid's ability to go from slumber to alert wakefulness in a heartbeat. "What's going on?"

"It's probably that convoy we're meant to escort," said Amelia, tying her cravat in the mirror. "We're supposed to be coming up on it this morning. It'll be important that we make our rendezvous properly. The EITC values punctuality."

Jane stood up and looked out of the window. The sky was hazy, even for a nebula. "And it looks like there's a bit of fog about."

"That must be why," Amelia looked as well. "We'll need every pair of eyes we've got up top to make sure we don't run into anything."

"I'll not keep you, then," Jane said.

Amelia smiled. "You really can stay here if you like."

"Oh, no. Goodness knows how long you'll be." Jane smiled. "I'll get dressed and meet you on deck."

Amelia pulled her hat on. "As you wish, my dear."

Jane turned to her and reached up a hand to straighten her hat for her playfully. "I do wish. I'll be with you in a minute."

The deck was crammed with people. Jane looked around in surprise. Spacers lined the rails around the edge as well as every yard overhead. She saw Amelia on the bridge talking with the other officers before taking up a telescope and heading forward.

"We should be coming up on the convoy any time now," she said as she reached Jane. "The captain's sent me up to the foremast platform. This fog is playing havoc with the telescopes so we're down to visual observation only."

"Ah," Jane was disappointed. "If you don't mind, I'd rather keep my feet on the deck..."

"Of course. I quite understand." Amelia smiled and nodded.

"Good luck, though," Jane added, as Amelia hurried off. She turned her head and smiled her thanks as she left.

"A sensible decision, in my opinion," said Captain Arrow, looming behind Jane. "In all my years of spacing, I have never felt comfortable aloft."

"I'm surprised to hear that, Mr Arrow," Jane turned to him with a smile. "I would have thought there was nothing that you weren't familiar with."

"I am quite familiar enough with topwork," Arrow looked up at the towering masts. "Perhaps that is my problem. I can never rid myself the feeling that something unfortunate could happen to a person up there."

"I know what you mean," Jane murmured, watching Amelia climbing the rigging to her station.

"Enough of such matters, though." Arrow broke into a smile. "Perhaps you would care to observe with me from the foredeck."

Jane nodded. "I would be happy to, captain. Lead on."

Arrow led the way to the ship's port bow. The crowd of spacers and marines there made room for him and he handed Jane a telescope. She put it to her eye, scanning the hazy etherium.

"Perhaps you can answer something for me, Mr Arrow," she said. "I've heard a lot of talk from Amelia and the other officers about a 'Company' or an 'EITC' in connection to this convoy. What does it all mean?"

"It refers to the Honourable Eastern Iridium Trading Company, ma'am," said Arrow. "It is a firm with a long history."

"I know a little about it," said Jane. "We bought a lot of our supplies from them when we shipped out from Kingshome-on-the-Cusp to Naztar."

"It was founded centuries ago, ma'am," Arrow said. "To exploit the iridium deposits on what was then the eastern fringe of the Empire. There was a great need for the mineral, but obtaining supplies proved very difficult. The costs of financing an expedition proved beyond most of the trading companies or private operators willing to risk their capital. Hundreds of small enterprises tried to mine the deposits and send the refined products back to the Empire, but almost all failed. Shipments slowed to a trickle. Even if one consignment arrived on time, there was no guarantee that the supplier would survive long enough to send a second. So the King of the time issued a Royal Charter, establishing the Eastern Iridium Trading Company to monopolise the mining and shipping of the deposits, pooling the resources of the merchant houses and the independent entrepreneurs. It was a success and the Company became wealthy on the iridium trade. As the Empire grew, the Company grew with it, expanding its commercial interests."

"Including into warzones, it seems," Jane commented, handing the telescope over.

Arrow nodded, taking it and raising it to his own eye. "Anywhere that money is to be made, Miss Porter, you will find the Company. Of that you can be sure."

Jane smiled. "You sound disapproving, captain."

Arrow shrugged. "I confess that was once tempted to join them. Many years ago when I was a young officer and still making my way in the galaxy. But fortunately I made acquaintance with one of Ms Amelia's ancestors in the Navy, and I have not looked back since."

"Fortunately for all of you, if I may say so," said Jane.

Arrow touched his hat. "You are very kind, ma'am."

Jane looked back out into space. "What would you have been doing with the Company, though? I can't quite see you working in a shop, captain."

Arrow gave a deep chuckle. "Indeed not. The Company's Charter permits it a wide range of powers and actions. The iridium on which it was founded was also in demand by the Empire's enemies. With the Navy occupied pushing our frontiers ever outward, the Company was permitted to raise and maintain its own armed forces on land and in space to protect the trade routes it controlled."

"So they have a fleet and an army?" Jane raised her eyebrows. "Well...I've never heard of a shopkeeper with that..."

"You will not find many Imperial servants with excessively high opinions of the Company," said Arrow in his ponderous tones. "Many a fine soldier, spacer and officer has been temped to take up with them. I understand that they pay better," he added sourly.

Jane understood. "I suppose that explains your dislike of them, captain."

Arrow nodded grimly. "This has been a hard war, Miss Porter. We have not waged it and seen our comrades killed and maimed merely to open up new marketing opportunities for the EITC."

Jane could hear the seriousness in his voice. "I...can understand that, I suppose..."

"The Company attracts some good men and women," said Arrow. "Adventurers, the independent of mind...but it also attracts the mercenary and the self-interested. There are few depths to which they have not stooped at one time or another and I see no reason to believe that their conduct has improved."

Before Jane could reflect on that sentiment, there was a call from one of the lookouts. "Sail ho! Wide on the port bow!"

Arrow handed the telescope back to Jane, who raised it and scanned the view in front of her. It took her a few moments to see a cluster of light patches in the haze. Zooming in on them, she saw the unmistakeable pattern of sails.

"Sails confirmed, sir!" Amelia called. "Four points off the bow!"

Forsythe nodded to Chad. "Turn us to port, commander. Raise our flags and load the bowchasers with starshell."

In order to prevent the Resolute from being mistaken for a pirate as she emerged from the fog, big Imperial battle ensigns were unfurled from every mast. Midshipman Buckley waved from the bowchaser battery on the forecastle.

"Starshell ready, sir!"

"Range to contact closing, sir!" Amelia called.

The captain nodded. "Port bowchaser, fire!"

"Port bowchaser, aye!" Buckley called. "Fire!"

The gun boomed out, sending a brilliant white comet of phosphorescence streaking ahead of them. A moment later, Forsythe ordered the starboard gun fired, sending a second flare arcing out into the nebula. Jane put her eye back to the telescope and watched. Under the white sails, dark patches tracing the outline of ship's hulls could be seen. As she squinted to bring them into focus, a bright light leaped up from one of them, bursting like a star in the mist. Beside her, Arrow relaxed.

"We are in luck, ma'am," he said. "It's the convoy."

"Indeed it is, Mr Arrow." Amelia, back on deck, joined them cheerfully. "Right on schedule."

They were running ahead of the convoy and turned across its line of advance. The fog around them thinned out as they reached the edge of the bank and emerged into clear space. Jane quickly raised her telescope again as the convoy was revealed. Twenty-two ships in five rough columns were sailing towards them, their bulging hulls painted in black and white. Many were almost equal in size to the Resolute herself. Flags flew from their masts bearing the bright emblem of the Eastern Iridium Trading Company. The ship which appeared to have signalled them was a smaller vessel running ahead of the convoy and it fired a second signal rocket as the Resolute crossed her bow.

"Escort sloop," said Amelia. "There's a second one bringing up the convoy's rear."

Jane nodded. "I think I can see a frigate, too. Just there, do you see it?"

Amelia turned her own telescope to see and smiled. "Well spotted, Jane. We'll make a lookout of you yet."

Jane blushed as she followed Amelia aft towards the bridge. "I think I'd need a better head for heights."

There was a rustling overhead as a string of signal flags was raised. An answering cluster of flags blossomed from the mast of one of the bigger merchant ships sailing at the head of the convoy's central column.

"We're to take up station on the convoy's port bow," said Chad, reading the signal. "And the convoy director wishes to meet us."

"Of course he does," said Forsythe, in a tone which suggested to Jane that the old man shared some of Arrow's views on the Company. "Well, let's get into position and bring him aboard. Damned if I'll leave my ship to go to him."

"Aye, sir."

"An impressive sight, isn't it?" said Amelia, looking out at the assembled ships.

"It is, rather," said Jane. "They're painted a bit like warships, aren't they? With those striped hulls?"

"Protective camouflage," Amelia nodded. "Most Company ships are painted like that to fool pirates into thinking that they're armed."

"But they're not?"

Amelia shrugged. "They're not helpless. But there's a reason the Company also has fighting ships like the sloops and that big frigate. Company merchant ships are a pirate's dream. You could make your fortune for life from capturing just one, depending on the cargo."

"No wonder they want us here," said Jane, seeing the value of a powerful guardian like the Resolute.

"Especially if there's a pirate raider on the loose," Amelia agreed.

The ship came about to settle into position just ahead of the convoy. Jane watched as the crew began furling several of the Resolute's sails and felt the ship move underfoot.

"We're slowing down?"

"A convoy travels at the speed of its slowest member," said Amelia. "It all has to stay together or else there's really not much point."

"Well, I suppose that makes sense," said Jane. She surveyed the convoy again. There was a stark contrast between the bulky, heavily-laden merchantmen and the escorts. Small as they were, the two sloops moved with grace and purpose while the Company frigate seemed every bit as impressive a warship as any of the Royal Navy vessels she had seen, sleek, muscular and proud. She watched as it launched a longboat, which began weaving its way through the convoy towards the Resolute. A small boat had also detached itself from the leading merchantman and began steering towards them.

"Dismiss the crew, Commander," said Forsythe. "And prepare to receive our guests."

"Aye, sir." Chad stepped forward. "Crew, dismissed! Reception party to stations and prepare to receive boats! Captain of Marines, parade your troops!"

"Here we go," said Amelia, casting a grin at Jane as she took off her hat to check the gold badge on it.

"Marines! Front and centre!" Arrow's voice boomed across the deck as he summoned his red-coated soldiers and formed them into two neat lines with the ship's officers gathered at the head of them in the centre. The longboat from the merchant ship had the shorter distance to travel and was the first to reach them, coming alongside and bobbing in the Resolute's turbulence. The spacers on board threw their lines across the gap, which were seized by the Navy crew and pulled in.

"Steady now! Steady, lads! Tie her off!"

The boat came to rest against the side of the ship and was made fast. A man stood up in the stern and called across.

"Ahoy, Resolute! Permission to come aboard?"

"Permission granted!" called Forsythe.

A barked word from Arrow brought the marines to attention just as the first of the visitor's feet touched the deck. Amelia sized him up as he straightened his clothes and walked the few steps to meet the captain. He was a human in early middle years, wearing an elaborate silky black wig and a dark civilian suit that was clearly hand-tailored for him. White lace showed at his collar and cuffs and around his neck was a silver chain carrying the sigil of the EITC on a medallion that hung on his chest. He had been a little unsteady as he came aboard and Amelia guessed that he was not a career spacefarer.

"Good morning, captain," he said, taking Forsythe's hand. "Phillip Callario, Convoy Director representing the Honourable Eastern Iridium Trading Company at your service."

"Captain Sir Edmund Forsythe of Her Imperial Majesty's Royal Navy commanding the Royal Light Ship Resolute at yours," said Forsythe, breaking the handshake as soon as decency permitted him to. "We received the signal from the Admiralty and diverted to meet you as soon as possible."

"And here you are," said Callario. "Those rumours about pirate attacks have spread far and reached influential ears, it seems."

"They are more than rumours, Director," said Forsythe. "But your passage so far as been untroubled?"

"Thankfully, yes," Callario said. "Truth be told, I hadn't even asked for additional escort."

"Well, the Navy seems to regard your inventory with some priority," Forsythe said grimly. "Ah, and it seems that your colleagues have arrived..."

The other longboat, which had been launched from the Company frigate, had been drawn alongside. A Katydian officer stood up in the bows and raised his voice.

"Permission to come aboard!"

"Granted!" Forsythe nodded.

The officer stepped off his longboat and onto the deck with what seemed to Amelia to be accustomed ease, in contrast to Callario's hesitancy. He was tall and had the angular insectoid features typical of his race, along with a crisp uniform in a heavy black cloth with broad red facings and gold buttons and trimming. He wore a sword at his side and despite the golden hilt and decorative inlays set into the scabbard, Amelia could tell from the shape of the scabbard that it also possessed a perfectly serviceable fighting blade.

"Ah, yes." Callario waved him over. "Sir Edmund, I'd like to introduce the senior officer of our escort, Captain Bennings."

Forsythe grunted at the use of his knightly title, rather than the military rank which Amelia knew he preferred from a civilian, before turning to the Katydian. "Captain Bennings. Welcome aboard."

"Thank you, Captain," Bennings didn't try to shake his hand but greeted him with a formal salute. Amelia saw a glimmer of respect in Forsythe's eyes at this show of professionalism as he returned the gesture. "Captain James Bennings, commanding the EITC Entreprenante. It's an honour to meet you."

"I understand that you have had an uneventful voyage to date, Captain?"

Bennings nodded. "We've been lucky thus far, yes."

"Convoy discipline appears intact," remarked Chad.

"No complaints on that front, sir," agreed Bennings. "The Company runs a tight convoy."

"Indeed we do," said Callario quickly.

Forsythe nodded. "If we are to continue this discussion, gentlemen, I suggest we do so in my private cabin. My first officer will accompany us."

"Of course, Sir Edmund." Callario nodded. "As you wish."

"Very well. Follow me." Forsythe turned to go. "You as well, Mr Chad. Ms Dunn? Mr Whiting? You have the bridge."

In the small hours of the next morning, Jane emerged onto the deck and shivered. Despite the glow beginning to suffuse the etherium, the overnight fog still hung thickly around them, shrouding the deck in silver haze. All the ship's beacons had been lit and cast ghostly halos about themselves. Wishing she had worn her scarf, Jane cupped her hands more firmly around the two steaming mugs she was carrying and headed towards the bridge. Amelia was already there standing her watch and at the sight of her Jane felt the cold slip away, almost as if she could retrieve the warmth of the parting kiss that Amelia had left her with an hour beforehand when she had left their quarters. Smiling to herself, she ascended the stairs. Amelia was standing by the ship's main console. Petty Officer Bryce was off to one side with a couple of spacers.

"Good morning, lieutenant," she said cheerfully. "Would you care for some tea?"

Amelia smiled back and took a mug. "With pleasure, Miss Porter. Very thoughtful of you."

"Morning, miss," Sergeant Ko, who had been towards the back of the bridge, joined them, touching her round hat respectfully. The lanky grey felinid marine looked much recovered.

"Sergeant," Jane smiled. "I'm glad to see you up and around, although I'm a little surprised. I thought that Dr Gray was going to insist on further rest for you."

"I've been in that sickbay for too bloody long already," said Ko. "Does you good to get out. Not even Doc Gray can keep me in bed."

"I'm sure Captain Arrow is glad to have your services again," said Amelia, sending a knowing glance to Jane, who completely missed it.

Jane stood next to her and looked back astern of them. The lights of the convoy glowed in the mist. "I hope everything is all right?"

"Perfectly quiet," said Amelia. "Not that we can see much in this muck, anyway. It clamped down towards the end of the last watch and has only just begun thinning out."

"I'll take your word that it is," said Jane, peering into the clouds. "It still looks rather impenetrable to me."

"Yes, it's not ideal," Amelia frowned at it. "I'd rather it be clear. Fog is a double-edged sword for a convoy. It hides you, but makes it harder to keep the convoy together...and of course, if you do meet the enemy, it means you'll do it at point blank range."

"Works fine for me, ma'am," said Ko, resting her hand on the hilt of her cutlass.

"I hadn't really thought of it like that." Jane looked astern to see if she could see the ships that were following them and thought about it further. "Why would anyone leave a convoy, though? Especially if there are pirates around."

Amelia shrugged. "Merchant captains tend to be independent types. And then there's the money. A crew can make a pretty penny by getting a cargo into port just a day or two ahead of their rivals. We call them 'rompers' when they leave a convoy and race ahead. But in a fog like this, I'm more concerned about 'stragglers'. They're the ones that lag behind. Sometimes pirates won't attack a convoy, they'll just shadow it and wait for some unlucky ship to fall out of formation."

"We're lucky this convoy is so good, then," said Jane. "I heard Mr Callario and Captain Bennings when they came on board and said that it was very disciplined."

"Yes...better a Company convoy than a rag-bag of independents all flung together," Amelia agreed, sipping the drink that Jane had brought her. "Fortunately we've got enough escorts that we were able to post that frigate behind the convoy to catch anyone who slips behind. This is good tea, Miss Porter. Have we found yet another of your talents?"

Jane blushed. "Well...to be honest I got these off the Captain's steward. He was working in the wardroom kitchen when I went in."

"Ah? Well, I'll keep your secret anyway." Amelia grinned.

Jane laughed and looked back out into space. "You were right about the fog, Amelia. It's thinning fast."

"Excellent," Amelia joined her, raising her telescope for a moment before she turned and walked across the bridge to join Petty Officer Bryce, who was standing by the wheel. "Mr Bryce? Station eyes aloft and get me a count."

Bryce touched his hat. "Aye, ma'am."

Amelia turned back to the console as Bryce left the bridge and checked the ship's course on the instruments. "And let's take an astronavigational reading while we're at it. Mr Costell is on watch next and he'll want to know that we're keeping true to his course."

"Aye, ma'am!"

Amelia scanned the etherium ahead of the ship with her telescope, looking for a handy star. "How is your father's book coming along, Miss Porter?"

Jane chuckled. "Oh, well enough, I suppose. He's still collating his notes. There's a pile in his cabin that almost goes up to the ceiling."

Amelia laughed as she looked down to check the ship's astrocompass. "No doubt he'll want to talk to us, soon."

"I think he's still trying to get the Captain to agree to an interview," Jane grinned.

"Twenty-one ships, ma'am!" Bryce called from the mizzenmast.

Jane watched Amelia's face change in an instant from pleasant humour to tense concern as a chill gripped her heart. She put down her mug on the edge of the compass binnacle. "Confirm that number, Mr Bryce!"

"Amelia? What's wrong?" Jane watched anxiously as Amelia hurried astern and raised her telescope to scan the convoy, which was emerging from the fog bank.

"There should be twenty-two ships," Amelia said. "Twenty-two merchantmen. Not twenty-one..."

"Twenty-one ships it is, ma'am!" Bryce called again.

"Very well, Mr Bryce!" Amelia cursed and beckoned to the spacer at the console. "Signal Entreprenante and the sloops to report all sightings, Mr Jackson. And send word for the Captain."

Ko saluted and left the bridge. Jane looked at the convoy again, and even she could now see that one of the columns was shorter than it had been. A ship was missing from the head of the line. Frowning, Jane remembered it as one of the smaller ships in the convoy, though it had still been of considerable size. Amelia appeared beside her again, holding a clipboard bearing the list of ships in the convoy and their place in the formation.

"It's the Preston Castle," Amelia muttered. "It should be leading the second column. Signal Callario's ship, too, Mr Jackson! It should have been on his port side! Callario put it at the head of a column because he said she was a poor handler and couldn't be trusted further back..."

"Do you think it slipped out of the line, then?" asked Jane. "What was it you said? A straggler?"

Amelia shook her head. "No, no...well, maybe, but to fall behind it would have had to pass by the ten ships behind it, not to mention one of the escort sloops and the frigate. That was the whole point of putting her up front. I can't believe that all of the ships behind her could have missed her straggling, even in the dark and the fog. But that means..."

"A romper?" said Jane, remembering the word.

Amelia nodded grimly. "Which means that it passed by us. And we didn't see it either. Damn!"

"Captain on deck!" Ko called, snapping to attention at the top of the stairs as Forsythe stumped on up to the bridge. Amelia saluted.

"Report, Ms Amelia," Forsythe said curtly.

"Sir. We've got a ship missing from the convoy. The Preston Castle, leading column two."

"Missing?" Forsythe looked serious. "Are you certain?"

"Double-counted and visually confirmed, sir. I've signalled the escorts and the Convoy Director to report any sightings of her."

"Very good," Forsythe nodded. "And our own eyes?"

Amelia shook her head. "Nothing, sir. No sightings at all."

"Signal from Captain Bennings, sir," called a spacer from the console. "No sightings."

Amelia hissed under her breath. "Blast it."

"The Director's ship is coming alongside, sir!" Bryce shouted.

Callario's merchantman, a huge vessel almost as long as the ship-of-the-line, was drawing up on their starboard side, close enough for Jane to easily read the bright plaque on the bridge railing bearing the ship's name, Viscount Astley.

"He'll want a word about his runaway ship, no doubt," said Forsythe. "What was the Preston Castle carrying in cargo, Ms Amelia?"

Amelia checked the convoy manifest again. "A bit of everything, it looks like, sir. Small arms, ordnance, reaction mass, medical supplies, spare parts, even some foodstuffs."

"A military cargo, then?"

"Most of it probably was, sir," Amelia nodded. "Offload was scheduled at Fort Loyalty."

"How many on board?"

Amelia checked the manifest again. She swallowed nervously. "Fifty-seven souls all told, sir."

"Passengers?"

"All crew, sir."

Forsythe nodded. "Well. That may yet be a mercy..."

"Ahoy, Resolute!" Callario had appeared on his flagship's deck as it came alongside the Resolute and was calling with a megaphone. Forsythe picked up a similar device from near the bridge railing and called back.

"Director Callario! One of your ships has left the convoy!"

A spacer coughed behind Amelia to get her attention. "Signal from Captain Bennings, ma'am. No sightings from any of the other escorts either."

"Sir?" Amelia looked back at Forsythe, who nodded grimly.

"Do you have any clues as to her whereabouts?" Callario called. "We didn't see anything!"

"We will begin a search at once!" Forsythe replied. He lowered the trumpet and looked at Amelia severely. "Have you any indications, lieutenant?"

Amelia hesitated. "No, sir...but we have the Company escorts covering the sides and rear of the convoy. They saw nothing and neither did any of the other merchantmen...considering the Preston Castle's position at the head of a column I'd say they're probably romping."

Forsythe nodded. "A sound deduction. Very well. Signal Captain Bennings to assume temporary command of the escort. Have him close up the convoy and hold this course. Send one of the sloops back in our tracks just in case the missing ship straggled out of line somehow."

"Where will you be looking, Captain?" Callario asked.

Forsythe raised the speaking trumpet again. "We will proceed ahead of the convoy. Captain Bennings will assume command in my absence!"

"Are you sure that's necessary?" Callario seemed unsure. "Reducing our escort when we've just lost a ship seems..."

"It was not lost to an attack on the convoy, Mr Director!" Forsythe pointed out. "We will conduct our search and I assure you we will return as soon as possible! In the meantime, you will bring your ship back into position and keep the convoy's formation intact!"

"But-"

"I am still the senior officer of the escort, Mr Director!" Forsythe snapped. "We will do our duty!"

"Perhaps I could send one of my officers on board to assist you?" Callario offered.

"That will not be necessary!" Forsythe turned to Amelia. "Open the sails, lieutenant, and call hands to stations. Accelerate to combat speed. And have Mr Costell bring me a chart plotting the convoy's course."

Amelia saluted. "Aye, aye, Captain."

Jane caught her arm as she went to carry out his orders. "I'm sorry, but...is everything going to be all right, Amelia?"

Amelia paused before answering, and Jane saw the shadow in her eyes. "I...I don't know, Miss Porter. I'm sorry."

"But are you...I mean..." Jane hesitated. She could tell the stress that Amelia was under, but knew she could hardly voice her concerns within earshot of Forsythe and the rest of the crew who had gathered on deck. Amelia seemed to understand and she nodded briskly.

"Of course. But if you'll excuse me, Miss Porter, I can't delay in obeying an order."

"Oh, no, naturally." Jane stepped back to let her pass. "Please, go on..."

Amelia reached the ship's console and scanned it briefly. "Mr Bryce? Summon the day divisions. Lay hands aloft to open royals and topgallants and send word for the navigator to report to the bridge with his charts."

Jane watched her work for a moment before she looked back to where Forsythe was still remonstrating with Callario.

"She may rejoin the convoy later, Captain!" the Director was saying. "She may have just lost her bearings in the fog! Perhaps we should fire signal rockets to guide her back?"

"You can take that suggestion up with Captain Bennings!" Forsythe shouted back. "In the meantime, sir, I remind you that we are in a warzone and that ship is bearing the Royal Navy's cargo! Even if she has innocently strayed from the flock, we can't leave her to wander until she finds us again!"

"It's not uncommon for a convoy to lose formation in poor visibility!" Callario protested. "Captain, I recommend we keep the ships we have left together under close guard! I am still the director of this convoy!"

"And I am still charged with ensuring its safe and timely arrival!" Forsythe barked, his temper evidently fraying rapidly. "This is not a subject for discussion, Mr Director! You may signal us if you require us, but in the meantime we are commencing our search! Good day to you!"

He hung the speaking trumpet up forcefully and turned away, ignoring Callario's last shouted entreaties and muttering darkly under his breath. Lieutenant Costell, in his shirtsleeves, arrived on the bridge at a run with a rolled up chart in his hand and breathlessly saluted. Forsythe marched off with him and Jane looked back at the Viscount Astley as it began slowly falling behind them to resume its place in the convoy. Callario was still on the bridge, but it seemed to Jane as if he deflated somewhat after his exchange with the captain and she saw his diminishing figure slowly return below decks. On the Resolute, by contrast, the deck was the scene of increasing activity as spacers summoned from below decks began preparing the ship for the search, unfurling more sails and tending to the longboat launch cranes. Jane saw Amelia standing in conference with Forsythe and Costell over the console on which the chart had been spread and thought of going over to lend her support, but then thought better of it. She crossed the bridge quietly and collected Amelia's mug from where she had left it on the compass binnacle to take it below. Amelia saw her leave the bridge unobtrusively, standing aside briefly on the stairs to allow a hurrying spacer to pass her, and watched until she disappeared from view before returning her attention to the chart.

It was around midday before Jane saw Amelia again. She pushed open the door to their cabin and saw Amelia standing in the corner washing her face in the tiny sink set against the wall. The felinid looked around at the sound of her entrance and gave her a tired smile.

"Ah, Jane. There you are."

"Here I am indeed," Jane closed the door behind her. "But are you quite all right, Amelia?"

"Never better." Amelia dried her hands on a towel.

Jane cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

Amelia looked up and met her eyes for a moment before she gave up. "I can't hide anything from you, can I, Jane?"

"Not if it's to do with your welfare, no." Jane moved closer. "Do you have a migraine? You look tense in the face..."

"It's that blasted bloody merchantman," Amelia looked out of the window as if expecting to see the missing vessel suddenly alongside them. "Just up and vanishing like that."

"It's not your fault," said Jane comfortingly. "You didn't know."

"Precisely!" Amelia turned to her, a brief flash of green flame in her eyes. "I was on watch and I didn't see a blasted thing! A whole ship vanishes, and I don't notice until it's too late!"

Jane was momentarily taken aback at the force of Amelia's self-condemnation, but she steeled herself to advance again. "That's not your fault, either, though. Nobody saw anything. Captain Bennings didn't, the other merchant ships didn't, even Mr Callario didn't know it had happened."

"Callario wasn't the officer of the watch on the lead ship of the escort!" Amelia snapped. "He's a bloody bean-counter, not a spacer!"

"Amelia, please." Jane dared reach out a hand to her. "It's really not your fault...we don't even know when that ship disappeared, do we?"

Amelia sighed, her temper subsiding slightly. "No...we don't..."

"Exactly. So she could have left the convoy hours ago, before you even went on your watch," said Jane encouragingly. "We've been looking for her for hours now. She can't have got this far without a big head start on us."

"I suppose not..." Amelia took her hand at last.

"You did everything you could," Jane assured her. "There's nothing you could have done differently. So it can't be your fault."

Amelia smiled wryly. "It's not about fault so much as it's about responsibility, Jane."

"You take your responsibilities very seriously," Jane smiled back. "And goodness knows that I love you for that, Amelia, but you mustn't let it become too much of a burden.'

"My father called it 'the loneliness of command'," said Amelia. "Ultimately, it all comes down to one person."

"So long as that person knows that she isn't really alone," Jane said.

Amelia met her eyes again and saw the love and generosity they held. Her heart rose and she smiled again, genuinely this time.

"Yes, Jane. She knows."

Jane put her arms around the felinid and held her close. Amelia reciprocated the embrace with a relieved sigh.

"Thank you, my dear," she said. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Your duty, no doubt," Jane squeezed her hand. "As always. Are you going back up on deck?"

Amelia nodded. "Yes, I'm afraid so. They need extra eyes up there."

"Of course." Jane stepped back and shook her head. "And I'm not at all surprised."

Amelia grinned and was going to reply, but the ship's alarm suddenly sounded out its raucous call. Commander Chad's voice came urgently over the tannoy.

"Clear for action, clear for action! All hands to quarters! I repeat, clear for action!"

Jane looked up at Amelia and saw the set of her face harden. "What does that mean?"

"I think," said Amelia, "that it means we found our missing merchantman...but that somebody else has found her too..."