Summary

In “The Light and the Fury,” the story opens with Xīng MacNamara on a cable off a dirigible in the middle of the Pacific. Xīng is submerged in the water and hears cannons. Xīng is yanked under water. Men drag and give her an underwater breathing apparatus and pulled “onto a warm steel floor” (52). Xīng meets Captain Shao; they discuss the British dropping “mines throughout the Pacific” (53). Xīng tells Shao that she is no longer a marshal, but Shao explains that people have not accepted her “resignation” (54). Shao explains that they play music for the core to increase “engine efficiency” (55). Shao tells Xīng that the mission she is wanted for is a “suicide mission” (56). When Shao asks who Xīng will be dying for, Xīng replies: “your sister” Maude (56).

Three days later, the...