“People, wait. Think,” Kel pleaded. “One thing at a time. Let’s lay this out. Okay, as of now, the Underwater Bay belongs to the creature. Consider it gone for good. The pilings are two-thirds eaten through, so even though they were over-engineered, our structural integrity is compromised, and the stuff is still dissolving the duraplast. Final word: The Pod will eventually fail. Meanwhile, we’re all infected. The algae—”

“Don’t call it that!” Vik snapped. “It’s a fucking intelligent organism, and we’d better start respecting it for what it is.”

“Right,” Kel agreed. “The organism has infected us all. It may be using . . . Scratch that. It is using the children for its own purposes. It’s put Toni into a coma and may have taken control of Felix to kill Bill. We know that all the kids, even the infants, are sick with sore throats. We also know that being infected, we may not be allowed in PA or Corporate Mine. Lastly, we’re being picked off one by one. Now, what are we going to do?”

Michaela stared around at her people. “They put the Unreconciled on an outlying research station. I know there are other abandoned bases out in the bush. We could ask for one. That’s an option.”

Yosh wore a miserable expression. “Isn’t that exchanging bad for worse? We’re still talking about Donovan. You heard the stories the Supervisor told when she was here. Three quarters of the cannibals who landed at Tyson are dead. Killed by Donovan’s monsters. What makes us any safer on the mainland than out here?”

Casey added, “If the Pod collapses into the sea, as long as the upper tube hatch is closed, it’s designed to float. And, while the supporting posts are duraplast, the Pod shell is sialon, that’s a ceramic.” She glanced at Kel. “Any sign the slime . . . er, organism eats sialon?”

“No. So far I can see no sign of corrosion or damage to the Pod’s sialon shell. But we still have duraplast around the doors, hatches, and windows to be concerned about. Maybe we can figure out some way to protect them.”

“And what does being adrift on open water get us?” Mikoru asked. “It puts us that much farther from any help from the Supervisor or PA. We’re at the mercy of the winds, currents, and tides, and eventually we’re going to wash up on some shore that might be a lot more hostile than what we have here.”

“Assuming we can survive the organism,” Vik noted. “Or defeat it somehow. Face it, people, we may not live long enough to make any of this even worth the debate. If Tobi and Bryan are any indication of its intentions, I’m not sure but that taking one of the seatrucks and hauling butt for shore wouldn’t be the smartest route.”