Cooper’s leg is still bandaged from the harpoon wound yesterday, but he doesn’t seem bothered by it. If anything, he sounds anxious for a rematch with LI—preferably with bigger guns on our side next time.

“Hewett said that Leyden weapons were the simple stuff,” I recall. “He claimed Nemo’s most complicated tech is still way beyond our best science. Our trials this weekend were supposed to be our first introduction.”

More grumbling in the ranks. Ah, yes, the good old days of twenty-four hours ago, when our biggest worry was passing the trials and staying at HP.

Tia Romero tugs at her corkscrew hair. “So the upperclassmen, even the sophomores…they knew all about this stuff, and they never breathed a word.”

I can tell nobody likes the idea that the sophomores had important inside information. The tenth-graders were the worst.

On the other hand, the secret of alt-tech does explain why they always looked at us so smugly. A lot of things make sense now. The tight security around Verne Hall. The armed guards. The gold-level crates.

I still can’t believe Dev kept all these secrets from me…about our family heritage, and especially about the circumstances of our parents’ death. The more I think about it, though, the less angry I am. It just makes me sad that Dev had to carry that weight alone. I wish I could have helped him. Now he’s gone….

“We can’t let them have it.” Brigid Salter’s voice draws me out of my thoughts. She still looks shaky, like she’s emerged from a three-day bout with the flu, but her expression is hard as iron. “This base. It might be all we have left of HP. We can’t let Land Institute take it. Or you, Ana…We can’t let them have you, either.”

I get a lump in my throat. It would be so easy for Brigid, for all my classmates, to blame me for what has happened, given the fact that I’m the one Land Institute is after. Instead, I can sense the anger rippling through the group, and that anger isn’t directed at me.

“I call for a vote,” Gem announces. “I say we give Ana command. We follow her orders, work together, and find this base. Then we make Land Institute pay for what they’ve done. All in favor?”

The vote is unanimous. Everybody raises a hand except Top, and I like to think I have his moral support.

I swallow the metallic taste of fear. I’ve just been made acting captain of a ship with a crew of twenty freshmen, a dog, a dolphin, and one comatose adult.

I do not want that responsibility. Just because I’m descended from Nemo does not mean I’m captain material. But my classmates need someone to rally behind, someone who will bring them better fortunes. God help them, they’ve decided that someone is me. For them, for our lost friends, and especially for Dev, I have to try.

“I won’t let you down.”

As soon as those words are out of my mouth, I think, How can I promise that?