She gave him that familiar I-don’t-believe-you stare. Said, “You’re lying, and I can prove it.”

“How?”

“’Cause I can show you, liar.” She turned. “I know how to get down to the Underwater Bay. Kel showed me.”

Kel was her father. He was the pod engineer. Knew how it all worked and made sure that everything, like the air conditioning, the pumps, and stuff ran. For some reason, she never called him Dad. He was always Kel, and he seemed to like it that way. Some people whispered that Kel wasn’t really her father, that it had been Dek. But who cared who anyone’s father really was? They were all Maritime Unit. That was what mattered.

Sheena started off in an exaggerated walk, her steps almost stomping. Felix followed, watching the dress she wore jerk back and forth, and hearing Sheena’s homemade shoes clap on the deck.

At the companionway stairs, she stopped before the pressure hatch that led down to the Underwater Bay. With sure fingers, she punched in a 7-6-7-8 code. The hatch clicked, and Sheena reached up to wrestle the dogging latch open.

“We’re not supposed to go down there,” Felix told her. “Not without a grownup.”

Sheena turned on him, jabbing a finger at his nose, which she always did to make him mad. “Told you there’s no algae anywhere but the hydroponics tanks. You don’t want to go ’cause there’s no algae!”

“Would you know algae if you saw it?”

“Sure! It’s green and slimy.”

“Well, the algae here is kind of green-blue. I know ’cause Mom told me what it was when I caught it.”

“Then prove it!” Sheena jammed her fists against her hips the way her mother did when she was making a point.

“But we’re not supposed to go down there!”

“If you don’t go, it means you’re wrong. And you’re a liar.”

Felix made a face, his heart starting to pound. He stepped over, stared down the tunnel that slanted into the depths. It was called the tube. Feeling like he was going to die, he stepped onto the first step and started down. The adults were all in the cafeteria, doing some kind of planning meeting with maps and stuff. If he and Sheena went fast . . .

Committed, he hurried down the steps. Steps were still new. Until they’d shipped out of Ashanti, he’d never been allowed on them. Now they were a fun challenge to leap down one at a time.