“Does this mean,” Victria says slowly, “that we get to stay on the ship? Forever?” Her eyes flick to the windows behind us, the planet on the other side.

“No,” I say, shaking my head. “No.”

“The only part of the ship that’s damaged is the Bridge. We could stay . . . here. . . .” Elder’s voice trails off under my flashing glare.

“The monsters? You’re worried about the monsters, or whatever it is that’s on the planet?” I roll my eyes. “Look, I’ve seen the armory. I’m not worried one bit. That captain? He was just scared. Or he didn’t want to let go of his power. Look at him—he just assumed it would be bad and then hid all the evidence about the planet and set himself up as king of the ship. What kind of nepotistic megalomaniac does that? He didn’t care about landing, about escaping, as long as he kept his power. And he’s had every single person on this ship convinced of the same thing, including you!”

I’m so worked up by this point that I’m heaving as I finish, but I won’t back down. “I am getting off this damn ship. I don’t care if the boogeyman jumps up as soon as the door opens and swallows me whole so long as I can step outside just once.”

“No!” Elder snaps. “I’m sorry, but no. This is ridiculous. I don’t care how impatient you are; this is something worth taking our time on. It’s worth it to know if we’re going to die the minute we step off this shuttle!”

Ringing silence fills the bridge when he’s done shouting. My face burns; I can almost hear the others repeating Elder’s words in their minds. Bartie stares at Elder with a sort of intense, furious wonder. I am being a spoiled little brat, throwing a temper tantrum.

But they can’t show me a planet and then snatch it away.

“Can you really go on living in Godspeed after having seen this?” I ask in almost a whisper, sweeping my arm toward the window.

Elder doesn’t look to the planet. His gaze doesn’t leave my eyes. “No,” he says. “No, I couldn’t.”

Bartie clears his throat. I can’t tell if he’s scared or if he’s angry—he glares at Elder, but he shifts uncomfortably on his feet. “I say we take a vote. If people don’t want to go . . .”

“They stay?” I ask incredulously. “Really?”

“We have a better chance of survival on the planet now anyway, monsters or not,” Elder says. Bartie turns to him. “The food stores are gone.”

“We can grow more—” Bartie starts, but he’s interrupted by a loud boom!

“What was that?” Victria says.