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I’m not just going to let a man die, Polly. He’s not a spy, he’s injured, look at him.
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What if he’s a spy? What if he’s been sent to capture you and you help him climb on board the ship? Then how do we help him? Just let me throw him a rope. His skin’ll be burning off.Īnd leave him to die? I don’t think so. A violet bruise ringed his throat and his face was livid with broken blood vessels.
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Hey, down there! Toby called and the man lifted his head. As Toby watched, the raft knocked against the side of the ship once more. On it was a red-haired man, his arms wrapped around the wood and his legs kicking weakly against the tide that tried to drag him back to shore. Beneath him was a tiny raft, barely more than two planks wrapped with cord. Toby ran for the porthole and leaned out. Polly’s plumage bobbed as she shuffled from foot to foot. It’s just junk knocking against the ship. Did you hear that? He frowned as he listened for the sound. Toby was halfway up the ladder, his brush over his shoulder, when he stopped. I hate it when you clean the blowers out the soot sticks to my feathers.Īll right. Polly leaped from his shoulder and landed on the boiler’s control panel. Polly tilted her head until she was looking into his eyes, her beak clacking as she hung almost upside down. I just wish they’d dock so my porthole faced the jetty. Toby sighed again, then went over to the brushes. I’ve never seen a tree in my life, but sometimes, when my processor shuts down, I see leaves. Polly glided from her perch and landed on his shoulder. Toby could see it pressing against the wall-a looming mass of old cars, vans, washing machines, and strollers, the litter of a civilization destroyed by human greed and the vengeance of Mother Nature. Outside, the dam was holding back an ocean of junk. Toby glanced at the open porthole, which faced the poisonous sea. Every other pirate was visiting the German port where they had docked-trading for supplies, swapping news, and taking a day’s break from the salt.
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The ship was empty silent but for the creak of rigging, the ticking of the boiler, and the hiss of the fire as it consumed the fuel Toby had fed it. “Thrilling, fast-paced and original.” -Emma Pass, author of Acid Can he turn an old feud into a new alliance that will save both their skins? Award-winning author Bryony Pearce brings the high seas to life with this rousing steampunk pirate adventure. Toby’s sick of a life at sea, and Ayla may be his only hope. With the ship in their sights, her crew is desperate to have the precious intel, too. Since childhood, Ayla’s been taught the Phoenix must be destroyed. And now the Phoenix is on the trail of the ultimate prize: a salvage of solar panels that could mean they’ll never need to hunt for fuel again.Īyla is second-in-command on the rival Banshee, where she’s trained her whole life to fight-just as her mother, Captain Nell, demands. For as long as Toby can remember, he and his father have sailed on the Phoenix, salvaging from the junk-filled seas to stay afloat, while keeping under the radar of the authorities. In a dystopian world of desperate pirates scavenging for survival, two young people may have to unite to save themselves.“Thrilling steamship adventure.” - Kirkus Reviews