“The ship rose. The shaft walls were close — I could see the stone texture through the cockpit windows, the bioluminescent algae casting their green-blue light on the hull, the clearance measured in centimetres rather than metres. My hands were steady on the controls. My breathing was controlled. My body was doing the things that training had prepared it to do, and the training was sufficient, and the ship was rising, and the stone was not touching us, and the night sky was visible above — a circle of stars that grew larger as we ascended.”