Lio blinked up at the Commissioners. He must've heard them wrong. The sound must be garbled by the waterfall. It sounded almost as though they just announced him as Opalina's Enforcer com. That couldn't be what they'd really said.

But in the chair nearest, Aziri stared at him, and Duhar was leaning forward in his seat to see around Aziri, his mouth open. They were looking at him like they'd heard it too. His palms went damp, and his head felt only loosely attached to his neck.

An image swept through his imagination. Striding up the steps of one of his family's estates, waving an airy hand at the lightship he'd parked on the lawn. His com ripple, silver as Opalina itself, glittering in everyone's faces.

The Commissioners were still expounding on the great accomplishments of the crew, the historical advances for which they would be lauded, the honors that would be heaped on them at their new assignments—

He twitched in his seat. It was as if someone had abruptly turned the volume back up. His ears echoed with the news that the crew would still be dispersed to new units. Away from Opalina. That was not at all the plan.

"No!" he said, interrupting the Commissioner. Even from this distance, he spotted the cold glint in her eye at the breach of etiquette. But this was too important. He stood up from the chair and offered a hasty salute. "Commissioners, please, you've got this all wrong."

"Yes," one of the men at the end of high table said. "I agree. We've been far too lenient with you all, Com Mirez."

The use of his new rank startled him enough that he froze. But the rest of it was a clear threat that demanded his focus. He needed to diffuse it before it exploded all over his friends. He almost saluted again, and then remembered he'd already done that.

"Commissioners." Lio tried to channel his brother's calm, assured voice. "I must ask you to reconsider. This crew cannot be reassigned. Every single person present was instrumental to the advancements you've praised."

They didn't look impressed. The Commissioner in the center seemed to be gathering herself to say something, and she wasn't going to let him interrupt her again, so his only shot was to get much more convincing very quickly.

Before anyone said anything, Lio flung out a hand indicate his friend. "Take Aziri. He and Orvaska were the ones who translated ancient texts on the Mastali. They laid out all the clues. They're your cryptics experts, and they can decode the Mastali programming in the ship. I'm sure of it."

He stretched his hand to the next chair in the line. "And Duhar—he's probably the only non-Mastali being in the All-Territories to actually fly a true lightship. He's your pilot, and he'll find out what the ship can truly do."

Lio gulped and inched forward a step. "But he wouldn't have been able to fly it if your engineers hadn't figured out how to power it. Rosareen, Onfenka, and Yorune can design anything. They can hold their own against any Enlightenment team you can find, I promise you. They'll be able to find out so much more about how Opalina works."

A glance at Teres, who was shaking her head slightly at him. "Duhar didn't fly alone, and we wouldn't have made it through the Mastali course if Teres hadn't flown the"—shit, he'd nearly said "dildo" in front of the Commissioners— "light vortex and gotten us safely through. And on top of that, she's a promising Enforcer who's made years of progress in months." The Commissioners didn't look particularly swayed, but they weren't demanding he shut up yet.

"But this crew...we are talented and sometimes difficult and that means we need people who will remind us when we can do better. Our subal does that, and he'll tell us what we don't want to hear because we need to hear it. Of all of us, Jossen has been with Opalina the longest. He never gave up on us, even when com after com left."

Down the row, Jossen let out a soggy sniff, mopping at his eyes. Lio stopped to draw a breath. "And R—"

Teres coughed so loudly it drowned him out. Just in time.

Swaying, he collected himself. His gaze swept down the row of impassive expressions at the high table. Still no attempt to cut him off. Perhaps it was only his mother's reputation that bought him their time, but he was willing to use it. Especially for Ravi.

Ridiculous, that the Commissioners thought they could choose him instead of Ravi. The crew might never have discovered any of the abilities they needed in order to fly a lightship without all of Ravi's careful guidance. Sometimes harsh, sometimes unbelievably kind, always piecing together the puzzle of their potential.

When he spoke, he forced himself to speak slowly. Let every word land. "You wouldn't have any of this if it weren't for Com Endessen. No commendations, no crew, no lightship. Nobody saw any of us before he arrived. Nobody knew what we could do. Not even us. You can't possibly remove him from the command position. No one deserves it more."

Lio faltered. He wasn't doing Ravi justice. His com was peerless, and the Commissioners weren't seeing it, because all they saw were resumes and networks and the glitter and flash of prestigious families. Ravi didn't rack up command commendations for himself and trot around preening at parties. Too busy helping people figure out how to help each other. And now they were going to be torn apart, and the realization hit like standing under a waterfall in a slot canyon. His vision swam. Throat was suddenly too tight to speak.

Aziri came to his rescue. "Commissioners, Archcom Huseda can attest to our progress. We went from never passing inspection to placing on the board at Bonanza. In a matter of months. It would be a mistake not to keep Com Endessen at his post."

"Yes," Yorune chimed from the other end of the row. "And if it will take a brilliant crew to understand Opalina, we need an equally brilliant com. Someone who sees how we can all fit."

"He works harder than the whole crew," Onfenka added.

"Best com we've had," Jossen managed, tears squeezing over his cheeks.

This unleashed a riot of everyone babbling over each other, a tumult of support that, while unintelligible, was also unmistakable. In that moment, Lio loved them all so much it ached, because they loved Ravi. They would fight for him to have what he deserved, even when he wouldn't say it himself. Lio sank back into his chair, lips pressed tight to keep his mouth from trembling. Everything was still a bit blurry.

The Commissioner leading the conversation the crew had usurped held up her hands. "Alright, yes, your esteem for your com is very clear. And will be noted." On her dais, Archcom Huseda was grinning.

"Excuse me." The frowning Commissioner at the end of the table narrowed his eyes. "Are you refusing the post, Com Mirez?"

He looked all the way down the crew's row. Every face was turned toward him, except for one. In the very last chair, furthest from him, Ravi stared down at his clasped hands. His shoulders were locked tight, as if a heavy weight were slowly crushing him.

Lio snapped his attention back to the Commissioners. "I'm not anybody's com. And I shouldn't be, no matter who my mother is."

Mutters erupted at the high table as the Commissioners exchanged sharp looks. The woman in the center inclined her head. "Well then. This crew continues to surprise." She leaned back in her chair, hands neatly folded on the table. "It seems we must revisit our plans if we are to make our command choices soon. Those decisions must come first, and then we will discuss your reassignments. Until then, you will stay at the guest residences." She touched the narrow holowatch on her wrist, and the grand doors swept open. Their audience was over.

The crew leapt up from their chairs as if they couldn't wait to escape. Lio moved more slowly, watching Ravi shuffle in their wake. He looked exhausted, and his eyes never lifted from the ground. The sight made Lio's heart ache.

At the high table, the Commissioners were drawing closer together. They'd switched off their amplifiers and the sound of the water concealed their words, but he knew they were debating what to do next. No doubt discussing which puffed-up, undeserving descendent of an old-name family would get the com position. By all rights, it should be Ravi's. Lio very nearly marched back to stand before the table and yell over the waterfall at them.

They wouldn't listen to him. Slowing as he approached the doors, his gaze skimmed back to Ravi. As soon as they set foot in the hall, the doors would seal them all out of the future they should've had. There was only one among them who had not taken his chance to say anything to the Commissioners.

Lio turned and stepped directly into Ravi's path, blocking his way out. The com lurched backward, his head snapping up in surprise.

"Ravi," he hissed. "It's yours. It should be yours, and we all know it, and Huseda knows it, and you need to go back there and make them know it." He jerked his head at Commissioners.

"That isn't how it works, Lio." Ravi's voice had no heat. His gaze was dull. "Rank matters in these kinds of decisions, and I don't—"

"You haven't tried yet!" He stepped forward, crowding Ravi into the enormous room. He glanced back to the crew already outside the doors and flanked on all sides by Enforcers. "Listen to me. You deserve it. Tell them. Show them what you've done already, and what you can do. Ravi, you are extraordinary. Go tell them."

"Lio—"

Their failure to leave had attracted attention now, and heads at the high table were turning. He had seconds to convince Ravi it was worth attempting. "Do you want the position?"

Ravi crossed his arms and glared at him. A spark of defiance, finally. That was answer enough.

Lio locked his gaze with Ravi's. "Then what are you waiting for?"

The question seemed to strike hard enough that Ravi recoiled. Enforcers stepped from the hall into the room, reaching for them. A heavy hand landed on Lio's shoulder, but Ravi backpedaled, evading their reach. For a split second, his dark eyes were pinned wide on Lio, despair discarded. Then he whipped away, striding back to the Commissioners.

Archcom Huseda signaled the Enforcers, and they stopped pursuing Ravi. But they wouldn't let the crew back into the room. Lio found himself steered into the hallway; the doors shuttling closed just as Ravi reached the line of empty chairs.

"What's going on?" Rosareen murmured as she and the rest of the crew crowded closer.

"He's going to try to convince them," Lio said. On an inhale, he felt his chest swell with pride. But a moment later, the exhale. And the deflating realization that while Ravi had a chance to secure a position, the rest of them were out of the running. His plan had only halfway worked.

He huddled back against the nearest wall, watching the doors. Some shameful part of him wanted Ravi to reemerge shaking his head, disappointed as the rest of them. He counted the seconds the doors stayed shut, knowing that every passing heartbeat was a little longer that the Commissioners were listening.