When Wynona opened her eyes, she was on a different boat. 

At least, that’s what it seemed like. The deck had broadened, lengthened. She was higher off the water than she’d been before. And, most significantly, there was a twenty-foot cannon raised above her head, as wide as three people and thrusting almost over the bow.

Wynona gaped. She’d known Boaty was special, but this was beyond anything she could have guessed at. “Are you guys seeing what I’m seeing?”

“Lieutenant Burk,” said Gwen. “Junior Lieutenant Loch. We need to create an opening for that cannon.”

The mechs began to pull back in accordance with her orders, then hesitated. Wynona saw and understood. Compared to Gelata, compared to the mechs, Boaty was still small. It might as well have been volcanic debris for how much space it took up. Was Gwen out of her mind?

“Wynona.” It was Loch, his camera finally on. He met her eyes, gaze unflinching. “Yes, you made a mistake. You’ve made plenty. But that was then, and this is now, and you’ve got another chance. I believe in you.” 

Wynona’s own eyes flickered away, out toward the ocean, the monster. “You don’t have to say what you think I want to hear,” she said, her voice hard. “You don’t have to lie to me.” 

An icon appeared at the corner of Loch’s screen. He had turned off all other comm channels; he was talking only to her. “Wynona, I wouldn’t lie to you. I’ve seen what you can do. If anyone can do this, it’s you.” 

Wynona did not know how to respond to that, not after she’d proven herself such a mess of a person. But she looked at the camera with as much gratitude as she could muster. Her cheeks were wet, she realized. She wiped her tears and took a shaky breath.

Gwen’s mech stepped into line beside her, rocking Boaty gently in the water. “Girl. You’re only going to get one shot. It’s true…” Her pronounced sigh crackled over the speaker. “The ship’s weapons are smaller than expected. But we still have a chance. The blast will give us the perfect opportunity.” 

Her mech pointed forward, straight toward Gelata. “Now let’s move!” 

Loch and Burk’s voices overlapped on the comms, not quite in unison.

 “Yes, sir!” Wynona imagined them saluting inside their mechs and actually managed a small smile. Their vast mechs stepped forward—they were big, and Gelata was bigger, and Wynona was scared. But Loch believed in her. So did Gwen. So did Boaty, as much as a boat could believe in anyone. And Trent and Rayani had always backed her up—even at her worst, they’d never had an unkind word to say. 

Wynona thought of Kala, taking her hands. 

She wasn’t always alone.

Burk and Loch rushed forward as one. Burk took Gelata’s head, keeping the beak and teeth occupied; Loch cut one sharp metallic arm through the lower third in an effort to reduce it in size. From behind them, Gwen was able to shoot a spear straight through its center. 

Another set of red tendrils rose out of the water, grabbing Burk’s mech around the middle. He was thrown into the water, away from the fight.

Wynona saw the heart. She was about to call out to Gwen when her mech jolted upright—she’d seen it too. 

Gwen took aim. With the way the thing was moving, it was a one in a million chance it would hit right where she wanted—but Gwen knew what she was doing. She didn’t go right for the heart. That had never worked before. She aimed a second spear at the base of the neck, paused for one second—released.

The weapon became stuck in Gelata’s transparent flesh, leaving it writhing. Gwen’s mech lurched forward, grabbing the skull, moving the base of the spear to hold it between the monster’s beak. She pulled the head far away from the heart. On the other side, Loch held the rest of the body away with the first spear so that the heart was completely exposed. 

“Wynona!” Loch was breathless. “Shoot now!”

Wynona’s arm was already in the air. She pressed down hard on the bright green circle that had appeared on Boaty’s new control panel—

And nothing happened. Wynona frowned down at her hand. 

The perimeter of the button was glowing, but only partially. At the center of a circle read a number—66%. It was loading. 

“You couldn’t have told me that before?” she yelled. 

Loch’s voice again. “Wynona?”

She tapped the mic button with her other hand—gratefully, it worked without the Gauntlet. “I got it!” she shouted.

There was nothing she could do but wait. 70%, 78%—

As the number rose, Wynona began to feel dizzy, and now a little nauseous, and now a little in pain. “Boaty, this is—”All of a sudden her arm felt limp. The pain in her shoulder, which had begun to ebb a little, suddenly surged. “Augh—Boaty, what’s going on—” Her face contorted in pain. She had to hold her right arm up with her left hand just to keep it steady. “It hurts—” But hurt wasn’t quite sufficient a word. She felt drained, sick. Like her body was failing. The pain cut through her muscle straight to the bone. She was tearing up, but she couldn’t stop now. No way. If she let go, it was over. Gelata would destroy everything. 

Tephra deserved a real hero, not one who talked badly of its people and pretended to be brave. This island deserved someone who was willing to sacrifice everything. 

Wynona told herself all this, and her brain believed it, but it wasn’t enough for her body. She fell back from the control panel, seizing with pain. Over the comms, she heard Trent call out her name. 

The cannon released at 82%. Wynona lost her balance in the recoil, and there was nothing and no one to catch her fall. She was thrown overboard over the side of the railing. But this was not the thing that mattered.

Come on, she thought. Boaty, come through for me. 

The projectile passed through Gelata and missed the heart, crashing into the volcano behind it. Wynona closed her eyes and let the waves wash over her.