Marina thinks about what I’ve said, gazing at the holographic macrocosm of Earth we’ve left open just in case Five should open his or her Chest. This is probably what she was expecting to hear from me this morning when she gently asked if I had a plan for us. I didn’t then—and I don’t exactly now—but the first step definitely has to be figuring out what we have to work with, and Ella is key to that.

“I’ll talk to Ella,” she says. “But I won’t force her to do anything.”

I hold up my hands. “I’m not asking you to. You guys are close. Maybe you could nudge her along?”

“I’ll try,” she says, at last.

Eight appears in the doorway of the workshop, holding two cups of tea. Marina’s face lights up when she sees him, although she quickly looks away, suddenly acting really interested in the macrocosm. I notice a blush creeping up her cheeks.

“Hey,” Eight says, setting down the tea. “Sorry. I, uh, only made the two cups.”

“It’s cool,” I reply, catching a meaningful look from Eight that suddenly makes me feel like a third wheel. “I was just leaving.”

I stand up and Eight takes my seat in front of the macrocosm. Before I’m even out the door, Eight whispers some joke to Marina that immediately gets her giggling. I’ve been so focused on Sarah and my agonizing battle planning that I hadn’t put much thought into how much time Marina and Eight have been spending together. That’s good. All of us deserve a little happiness, considering what we’re facing.

It’s almost dawn when Eight comes to our room, waking me and Sarah. The others are already gathered in the workshop. Six sits in front of the computers, Marina next to her.

“Another brain-dead maneuver from our missing compadre,” Nine says by way of greeting. He’s standing on the wall using his antigravity legacy. Ella is sitting Indian style on his back, wrapped up in a blanket. I arch an eyebrow at her.

“Did you sleep at all?”

“Don’t want to,” Ella says.

“She’s been helping me with my strength training,” announces Nine. He hunches his shoulders, jostling Ella. She almost falls off his back, but laughs—a rare laugh—and hangs on. She slaps his back in annoyance. “Didn’t even feel that.”

Ignoring the others, Six turns to me. “Five stopped moving about an hour ago. Then started up again.”

I glance at the tablet’s screen. Five’s beacon has cruised along west since the last time I looked in. It now hovers around the eastern border of Arkansas.

“The genius stopped just long enough to send us another message,” grouses Nine.

Marina narrows her eyes at Nine. “Do we really need to be critiquing what Five does? He or she is probably alone and scared.”